LAHORE: Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, sisters of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, were released from Kot Lakhpat jail after the withdrawal of their extended detention orders, PTI legal counsel Rana Mudassar Umer told Dawn on Thursday.
In a post on X, he said the two women, who were detained in September under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance along with their sister Aleema Khan, had returned home ‘safely’.
PTI lawyer Taimur Malik also said on X that the two women had been released following the withdrawal of the ‘unlawful MPO detention order’.
‘Everyone else detained under these MPO orders should be released as well,’ he said.
Noreen’s son, Wali, also confirmed their release in a post on X.
‘For 53 days they were held under Section 3 of the MPO. No charge. No trial. Two weeks ago, Noreen, in her seventies, was taken to a cardiac hospital. No one told us. Today they were let out. No reason given,’ he said.
He called for a judge to ‘explain both decisions’. However, he added: ‘No one can, because neither decision rested on law. Their jailing was arbitrary and so is their release.
The PTI founder’s three sisters, Noreen, Aleema and Uzma, were detained on the orders of the Lahore deputy commissioner as the PTI prepared for a protest march towards Islamabad. Their detention was initially ordered for 30 days.
The detentions were challenged in the Lahore High Court after the initial 30-day period expired last month. The Punjab government subsequently informed the court that the detention orders had been extended for another 30 days. Aleema, who was the first to bedetained, remains in jail.
Health concerns On Oct 28, Noreen was shifted from Kot Lakhpat jail to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) due to high blood pressure. At the time, her lawyer said no family member had been informed about her deteriorating health.
The PTI had also condemned her transfer to the PIC without informing her family, expressing grave concern over her health and the treatment of ‘political prisoners’. The government, however, insisted that she was ‘fine’.
‘As per the information available, she is fine and all her medical tests are normal,’ Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah told the Senate on Oct 29.